and hardware is an essential element of
livestreaming. An outage for even a few
minutes could mean remote guests missing
the most important moments.

An audio technician is always around
for pre-production, handling sound quality
while Dizárd tends to video. The sound for
his livestreams is usually captured through
the camera or by connecting to the venue’s
soundboard. Sometimes he’ll put a lavalier
mic on the officiant or groom as well.

Dizárd also has a dedicated operator
monitoring the livestreaming camera while he
captures video for the cinematic pieces he’ll
edit later. When he livestreamed a wedding
in Maryland to family members in Guatemala
last September, he had someone standing
by to resolve any issues that arose with the
remote viewers.

OUTSOURCE IT

Wedding shooters can minimize the technical
burden of livestreaming by working with
a livestreaming platform that specializes
in weddings. Unlike generalists such as
Livestream and Ustream, wedding-oriented
services usually stream on wedding-themed
web pages and offer technical support for
both the videographer and remote guests.

Some provide or recommend the gear
required to stream footage and refer clients.

Mark Nasser, a Los Angeles broadcastpro who works parttime as a weddingvideographer, has found that working with IDo Stream ( idostream.com) gave him an easyway to add livestreaming to the services heoffers without having to spend a lot of extratime and money on assistants and technicaltroubleshooting. “They’ve got live techsupport not only for me but for anybody that iswatching,” he explains.

Philip Ly, founder and president of I Do
Stream, says that the service constantly
monitors each livestream and provides
support to viewers as soon as they experience
a problem. That keeps them from contacting
videographers about problems and also alerts
them to any streaming issues immediately.

“A livestream is only as good as its weakestlink, which is usually on-site,” Ly notes, such aswhen “somebody walks by and kicks a cable,or the Wi-Fi cuts off momentarily. As soon as itgoes down, we let the videographer know sothey can restart the stream.”I Do Stream also helps videographerswith pre-production, sets up wedding-themed streaming pages with guest booksand chat tools for viewers, and can tailor itsservices to different wedding settings andcamera setups. “They’re able to do it reallycustomized,” Nasser says, “whatever youwant to do.”A similar service, My StreamingWedding (mystreamingwedding.com), works with a national network ofexperienced video pros and equips themwith a battery-powered LiveU “backpack”that provides a professional-grade wirelessphone connection to the Internet. Thatallows videographers to shoot in anylocation with network coverage and cutsdown on the pre-production checks. “Youjust never know what you’re going torun into,” says the service’s founder, JoelRienstra, “so we like to provide our ownInternet connection. For a livestream, that’sreally the single biggest potential failpoint—having a slow network.”Whether you work with a service or onyour own, getting up to speed on how tohandle livestreaming can make you evenmore valuable to clients who find out late inthe game that someone at the top of theirguest list just can’t make it. As Chip Dizárdpoints out, “a lot of times livestreaming is alast-minute request.” Today, videographerscan be ready.

“A livestream is onlyas good as its weakestlink, which is usuallyon-site—somebodywalks by and kicks acable, or the Wi-Fi cutsoff momentarily.”— Philip Ly

BLACKMAGIC DESIGN
WEB PRESENTER
Connect the Web Presenter
to your camera via HDMI or
SDI, then connect it to a PC
via USB for your own web-streaming studio using your
DSLR, mirrorless or cinema
camera. The video feed can
be easily integrated into the
full range of livestreaming
options. It converts your
live recordings, including

4K livestreams, to a 720p
stream, broadcastable
through your computer.

blackmagicdesign.com

LIVE

GEAR

It doesn’t cost much
to gear up for a
livestream.

time

LIVESTREAM
BROADCASTER MINI

The Broadcaster plugs
into your camera’s HDMI
output to encode video
for livestreaming over its
built-in Wi-Fi connection.

You can monitor yourbitrate, battery statusand wireless settingsthrough a small LEDon the side of the mini,but the Broadcasteralso pairs with mobiledevices forremote control.

livestream.com

TERADEK VIDIU PRO

Plug the VidiU Pro intoyour camera’s HDMIoutput and you’ll beable to livestream a fullHD signal over a cellularnetwork with an optionalUSB modem. It can alsopiggy-back on yourmobile phone’s wirelessconnection or be hard-wired to a network viaEthernet. There’s also anSD card slot, and you’llenjoy two hours ofbattery life.

teradek.com

LIVESTREAM MEVO

The Mevo streams a

720p signal over Wi-Fi
or Ethernet. Its internal
battery is good for one
hour of streaming, and
you can connect the
Mevo to an AC outlet
or buy the separate
Boost accessory ($250)
to push battery life to